I’ve been using Google Wave for a few weeks, and spurred on by some conversations on twitter about people’s frustrations with Google Wave, I was invited by Gemma Went to write about my views on her blog at Red Cube Marketing.

If you’re a google wave user, or simply interested in what all the fuss is about, why not pop over and take a look and perhaps add your views?
Google Wave: How it might work (if we stop moaning)

by Richard Derwent Cooke

This is the third blog in this series, and hopefully you now have the core idea that being proactive is the key to success in these recessionary times. Last time we considered things that you needed to stop doing and now I’d like to consider those things that you need to start doing. Things such as:-

• You need to consider other businesses outside your own specialist area who might service the same clientele as you do, that you could form an alliance with or create new services that merge your two offerings;

• Think of sectors that you haven’t previously serviced that you have the skill set to work with
  Ask some of your best existing clients for referrals and suggestions as to who you should be talking to;

• You should look at your staff and see who has the potential to develop new skills and offerings, and encourage them to do so;

• Make at least a couple of hours a week to focus on strategic issues, shut your door, turn off the phone and ensure that you give it your full attention;

• Look outside your own area for inspiration, be that books, hobbies, courses, other countries, innovate by cross-fertilisation;

• Identify things to stop doing. A minimum of 20% of your time is wasted (probably a more!) and you should identify these activities and use that time to seed your Change programme.

• Get the idea out there that you encourage and embrace Change;

• Make time for networking, you’ll be surprised where this takes you. It isn’t about selling, it is about getting your ideas out there and listening to those of others and exploring areas for collaborating.

Like all lists, this one is far from complete, but it will get you started. You should brainstorm others with your own team. If you keep doing what you have always done, in a recession, all you can expect is less and less of the same thing! Good Luck…

“I like my job because it involves learning. I like being around smart people who are trying to figure out new things. I like the fact that if people really try they can figure out how to invent things that actually have an impact.”
Bill Gates

Previous blogs in the series:
Strategies for Success in this Recession – Part 1: Change how you see things

Strategies for Success in this Recession – Part 2: Things to stop doing
Richard Derwent Cooke is a Facilitator, Coach & Change Mentor and the founder of I-Change. Trained as a chartered accountant and in various alternative disciplines, Richard has been working in the fields of personal and business change for over 25 years, working with international blue chip companies and individuals. See www.i-change.biz for more details, or email info@I-change.biz. You can also follow Richard on twitter.

Note from Su:
Have you found Richard’s posts useful? Would you like to see other professionals guesting on Just Practising? I’d be interested to hear your comments.

By Richard Derwent Cooke

Once you have accepted that you are best able to succeed in the recession by taking charge, a key question to ask is “What am I doing that no longer serves me?”

Things like:-

• What activities are wasting my time? Remember the 80:20 rule

• Which customers are taking a disproportionate amount of time for increasing little reward?

• What systems that I use are no longer necessary, or capture detail we don’t use?

• What resources are we neglecting? This applies to people, space, time as well as your other assets

• What attachments do I have that keep ensnaring me?

• What sectors am I focusing on that are contracting rather than growing?

• What things am I doing exactly the same way as I have for the last 5 years that have not been reviewed to see if they are the best way to do things?

There are certainly many more good questions to ask yourself, but if you get together with your team and identify & challenge your sacred cows, you may be surprised by how much time and energy you can liberate to focus on things which will make a real difference. Remember, if you aren’t changing, it doesn’t mean that your customers, your competitors and the market place isn’t!

“Stop the mindless wishing that things would be different. Rather than wasting time and emotional and spiritual energy in explaining why we don’t have what we want, we can start to pursue other ways to get it.” Greg Anderson

Previous blogs in the series:

Strategies for Success in this Recession – Part 1: Change how you see things

Richard Derwent Cooke is a Facilitator, Coach & Change Mentor and the founder of I-Change. Trained as a chartered accountant and in various alternative disciplines, Richard has been working in the fields of personal and business change for over 25 years, working with international blue chip companies and individuals. See www.i-change.biz for more details, or email info@I-change.biz. You can also follow Richard on twitter.

by Richard Derwent Cooke

The world is in global economic melt down .. right? And yet I am sure there are many people and businesses that are doing very well in today’s marketplace. Of course there are practical difficulties with getting credit (if you need it) or perhaps with clients who lack liquidity. However, if we give away our power to these external factors, we inevitably cast ourselves as victims of circumstances.

It is far better to recognise these changes as the opportunity that they undoubtedly are and begin to think how we can change to take advantage of this state of flux. In a steady state market, the big boys always win as they have the resources and the reputation. When things become turbulent, there are opportunities for smaller, more nimble, more inventive businesses to steal a march on them.

Martial artists train so that when they need to use their skills they don’t become paralysed by fear. It is easy to feel scared by all that is going on, but recognising the upside of this situation helps us to move forwards, and approaching things with a positive mindset helps us be creative.

Being the same as everyone else and conforming is no longer the safe option. Differentiate yourself: find or build a niche. What element of the market particularly interests you or are you particularly good at? What hasn’t been tried before or what classic ideas and techniques could be adapted today’s circumstances? What techniques can be ported over from another area or discipline, such as what could a boat builder teach a house builder? What ideas could be transferred from one part of the world to another one? What is traditional in one place is innovative in another.

So Step One is to change how you look at things….

Steps Two & Three will follow shortly.

“Perception is strong and sight weak. In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things.”

Richard Derwent Cooke is a Facilitator, Coach & Change Mentor and the founder of I-Change. Trained as a chartered accountant and in various alternative disciplines, Richard has been working in the fields of personal and business change for over 25 years, working with international blue chip companies and individuals. See www.i-change.biz for more details, or email info@I-change.biz. You can also follow Richard on twitter.